


Scars of Today

by whochanwoo



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Past Lives, Assassins & Hitmen, Demons, EXO Assemble, Fluff, Immortality, Immortals, M/M, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), Music Video: MAMA (EXO), Romance, chanbaek think of chen as their younger brother, chanchen and baekchen are platonic, it's just chanbaek, of course there's romance, what else should i tag?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-08-19 22:54:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20217631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whochanwoo/pseuds/whochanwoo
Summary: After crossing each other's path countless of times over past lifetimes, Chanyeol and Baekhyun decided to spend time apart from each other for a long time. Once they reunite, Baekhyun realises then that he can't live without Chanyeol, nor can he die without him. Chanyeol, on the other hand, realises that love, to him, can only come in the form of a certain boy who can live as long as him.





	1. Chapter 1

“It’s exhausting to always be alone, isn’t it?” Baekhyun lifts his heavy gaze up from the redhead downstairs, turning away from the window. Junmyeon leans against the doorway, face smug and poised as always. “Go greet him and introduce yourself. Hopefully you’ll be civil towards him.”

Junmyeon leaves even before giving Baekhyun a chance to get a word in. He doesn’t mind. Baekhyun turns to look at the newcomer once again through the window, tracing the other’s bright smile and tousled red hair. Baekhyun finds the change in his appearance refreshing, especially when the contrast between the blood red and the blanket of snow he stands on satisfies Baekhyun. 

He waits a few minutes just to make sure everyone in the house is settled in the living room to wait for the newcomer. He makes his grand entrance, before the newcomer does, casually taking his usual seat in the middle of the room. No one dares to take the seat next to him although there’s too much space on the couch. Well, except Jongdae because he doesn’t know what a sense of privacy is. Baekhyun doesn’t mind.

Junmyeon appears by the door again, drink in hand and eyes surveying the room to make sure everyone’s behaving. Baekhyun almost scoffs when the newcomer’s footsteps echoing loudly by the door catches his attention. A mop of red peeks into the door first, eyes big and bright as always. 

Newcomer steps in after Junmyeon, limbs a mess and figure too tall to be seen as anything but lanky and awkward. He bows to the whole room, smiles and when he’s about to say his name, Baekhyun meets his sight. He gasps, widening his eyes even more if that’s even possible.

“Chanyeol.” Baekhyun gives him a small, serene smile.

“Baekhyun.” Chanyeol blinks. 

“You guys know each other?” Junmyeon brushes the tense atmosphere to the side, taking steps forward to presumably sit next to Baekhyun.

At the stare the ravenhead gives him, Junmyeon awkwardly halts in his tracks and stands in his spot like a fool. Chanyeol’s quick to shake his head, giving Baekhyun a quick, nervous side-glance before staring down at Junmyeon again. The rest in the room seem visibly interested now in his presence. The fact that Baekhyun’s not denying anything doesn’t help either.

“We do. Barely.” Baekhyun leans back on the couch, drawing a long breath out through his nose. 

‘Barely’ is a mendacity in itself. Chanyeol thinks back to all the memories they share, to all the lives they’ve lived through together, all the lives they’ve lived through apart from each other. Chanyeol can practically see and draw out a time where Baekhyun laughed so hard and so openly because of him that it’s stayed ingrained into his memory for years on end. Chanyeol can remember the number of tears he’s counted flowing down Baekhyun’s cheeks. 

Baekhyun avoids Chanyeol’s unblinking eyes. Chanyeol decides it’s okay. He has Baekhyun now, he’ll be fine. 

“Yeah, barely.” Chanyeol nods. “Anyways, my name is Chanyeol and I hope you’ll take care of me.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Baekhyun leans back on the wall before tucking a leg under him. The glass of the window is cold enough to make him actually feel the lack of heat but Baekhyun still warms up to it in no time. Down below, he sees Chanyeol walking around with Jongin, giggling about something together. 

Baekhyun sighs, eyes still trailing after Chanyeol’s pretty smile. So he’s chosen to be friendly this time around. Maybe Chanyeol missed having friends around. They haven’t seen each other for three lifetimes now and Baekhyun can only guess that Chanyeol’s younger than him in this life. 

The door to his room slides open and Jongdae walks in all prim and proper. Right, he wasn’t there when Chanyeol first came. He must have heard what went on from the others. Baekhyun lazily twists his head enough to see Jongdae throw him a sleazy grin. 

“Care to tell me what happened?” 

“No,” Baekhyun shuts him down immediately. 

“Aw, c’mon, Boxian.” Jongdae pouts, resulting in Baekhyun completely turning away from the hideous sight that is Jongdae’s face.

“Shut the fuck up, Zhongda,” Baekhyun says almost too monotonously if not for the slight emphasism on the profanity. “You already know.”

“That he’s kin to us?” Jongdae provides, then he changes his mind, “Wait, that’s not it.”

“Whatever it is, you know,” Baekhyun says, matter-of-factly. 

“Do I really?” Jongdae gurns, or at least that’s what Baekhyun would have described it. “How do you know that I know?” 

“Jongdae,” Baekhyun warns.

“Okay, fine. I’ll just ask him myself.” 

“Kim Jongdae.” 

“I hate you,” Jongdae spits out, tone entirely venomous and gaze almost deadly, “so fucking much.”

The huge change in Jongdae’s demeanour doesn’t faze Baekhyun. He’s grown so used to the other’s behavioural patterns that this small difference won’t make him budge. Instead, Baekhyun lifts an eyebrow up and scoffs.

“Oh, yeah?” Baekhyun provokes Jongdae. “But you’re too afraid of me to do anything about it.” 

“Maybe I am, but a day will come where you will feel the same way I do.” Jongdae tries to stomp out of the room but when Baekhyun waves a finger in a twirl and robs Jongdae’s sight, the latter freezes in place. “Baekhyun, give me back my vision.”

“Did you ever learn what politeness is and how to be polite?” Baekhyun’s amused tone aggravates Jongdae even further. “Maybe I should just let you walk around, blind, like all the others are to our kind.” 

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae says, voice just under a whisper as resignation laces through his tone, “so just please make me see again.” 

“You better keep your behaviour in check, Zhongda. Don’t let your element control you.” 

Baekhyun says this only out of pure concern. As a fellow… kin—as Jongdae would say—Baekhyun just wants him to be able to survive longer than he can. There’s really only three of them left in the world, Baekhyun can’t afford to lose more. 

“Yeah, I know,” Jongdae grumbles, mumbling a thanks somewhere in between when Baekhyun finally gives back what he stole. “I’m going to introduce myself to Chanyeol.”

“I’m going with you.” 

Baekhyun makes a move to get up from the window seat but when Jongdae gasps and points at him accusingly, Baekhyun freezes mid-action. Why must Jongdae be so dramatic all the damn time?

“So you do know him! Something really is up between you two!” 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Jongdae.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Jongdae’s rhythmic steps and the crunching of snow underneath Baekhyun’s boots sync up together. The cold doesn’t bother them as much as it should, for Jongdae only has a piece of sweater on while Baekhyun left the warm confines of the house in a hoodie. For humans, this was enough to bring death upon them in such extreme temperatures.

When they take a left turn, Jongdae’s pace slows down and Baekhyun can finally see the backs of Chanyeol and Jongin standing close by each other. It irks him, but not enough for him to voice it out.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun calls out, voice calm and almost sounding a lot like home to Chanyeol.

Jongin turns around the same time Chanyeol does, mouth and eyes wide open as he stares at Baekhyun. When Jongdae mocks a shiver running down his body and steps closer to Baekhyun’s natural body heat, Jongin finally notices the other standing there. 

As expected, Chanyeol’s only wearing a thin shirt whereas Jongin’s sporting a scarf over a winter jacket, over a normal jacket, over a hoodie, and probably even then over a shirt too. 

“Hey…” Jongin trails off, not quite understanding why Baekhyun’s all the way out here only to greet Chanyeol. “I was just making sure the newbie knows his way around.” 

“I’d hate to be a spoilsport but I kinda need to borrow new guy over there for a minute.” Jongdae snickers at Baekhyun’s lame attempt at being vague before shutting up at the older’s warning glare.

“Uh, sure. What for?” Jongin’s careful as always, not wanting to be lax even in the presence of his greatest fear. He had let slip once the fact that Baekhyun scared him more than anything in the world, and he honestly only has vodka to blame for that. That doesn’t stop him from being meticulous with his work though. “If Junmyeon sees me slacking, he’ll slaughter me.”

“He won’t if you mention me.” Baekhyun’s smug tilt of the head and his succeeding smile doesn’t falter Jongin’s suspicion any. 

“You’ll slaughter me if I ask why once again, won’t you?” Baekhyun simply nods at Jongin’s question, and Jongdae supplies a brusque snort. Jongin doesn’t pay Jongdae any mind. “Fine, but if Junmyeon asks, I’m saying you forced me to.”

“Fine by me.” Baekhyun shrugs the small weight of Jongin’s blame off. “Run along.”

Jongin really does run along. He trots back into the house and when Jongdae’s sure no one’s there to hear him, he turns to Baekhyun and—again—gurns. 

“Run along?” Jongdae scoffs. “You speak like you’re old. Oh, wait, you are old!” 

“I’d appreciate it if you shut the fuck up, infant.” Baekhyun flicks the tip of Jongdae’s ear, finding pleasure in the way the younger yelps. 

“Uh, Baekhyun?” Chanyeol’s deep voice shakes the two out of their own little world. “What do you need?” 

“Nothing, really,” Baekhyun admits, “but I just wanted to introduce you to Jongdae.”

“Hello!” Jongdae’s cheerful tone appears when he’s not facing Baekhyun. He waves at Chanyeol, even gives him a bow. “I’m a Demon too!” 

Baekhyun waits for Chanyeol to react, for him to express his explosive self once more. Baekhyun’s waited over three lifetimes and three decades to be able to see it, see his smile, hear him laugh. He wants to see the light in the other’s eyes. Instead, the shadows of exhaustion shines clear in the way Chanyeol smiles. 

“That’s good then.” Chanyeol rocks from the front to the back on his toes then to his heels. “What’s your element?”

Baekhyun frowns at Chanyeol’s attitude. Even he had freaked out at the fact that Jongdae had been born as a Demon. And he’s not usually vocal about anything anymore. 

“Lightning.” Jongdae smiles, his mood softening up. Perhaps he realised he should go easy on Chanyeol. “What’s yours?”

“Fire.” The tails of Chanyeol’s lips lift just a little higher, dimples now showing. Baekhyun wants to poke it but he doesn’t. “It’s cool how all three of us has the element of light.”

“Oh…” was the only thing that falls from Baekhyun’s lips. He then blinks, looking up at the redhead. “Is that not a sensitive topic for you anymore?” 

“No.” 

Five lifetimes ago, Baekhyun had mistakenly stole the light from Chanyeol’s fire, stealing its heat too in a bout of rage. He was resisting against almost a whole army who had believed he was a monster that would come to rule their land through divine power. Chanyeol had been there, fighting against him alongside the army. He had used his maximum power then, but Baekhyun had still managed to subdue him. 

When the last of the soldiers around them fall dead, they sat side by side, panting. Wordlessly, they each picked up a gun and aimed it in between each other’s eyes. When Baekhyun counted down to three, he felt Chanyeol’s grip on the gun loosen just a little, but they shoot each other in the end. He had hesitated, but he didn’t chicken out. 

“I’m over that,” Chanyeol explains himself, “because it’s all in the past.”

“It’s all in the past.” Baekhyun nods. “Yeah.”

“What happened in the past?” Jongdae pipes in, feeling left out for far too long. “Tell me.”

“Do you ever say please, infant?” Baekhyun snaps.

“Googoo gaga, old man.” Jongdae rolls his eyes. “Anyway, what happened? Please tell me.”

Baekhyun doesn’t miss the sarcastic look Jongdae threw him. It’s hard to get through Jongdae’s thick skull, it’s not so simple, so Baekhyun gives up and turns to Chanyeol with a blinding grin. 

“It’s such a wonder, isn’t it? We were living our lives apart while this sunshine here was born.” Jongdae whines at Baekhyun calling him sunshine.

The smile on the taller’s lips widen, till they part and Chanyeol’s displaying a full grin. His eyes disappear behind a full set of teeth, crinkles forming in the sides of his eyes. He lets out a small sound, sounding like a laughter, a chuckle, and Baekhyun himself lets out a sound close to a giggle. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


In the corner of his eye, Baekhyun sees the door, closed but still inviting. He wants to get up and leave right away but Junmyeon won’t let him. Even now when he’s only eyeing the door, Junmyeon is already mad enough.

In retrospect, Baekhyun really should have listened to Jongin and should have waited till he’s done showing Chanyeol around. Now Junmyeon started to nag him for disturbing others’ work. Baekhyun quietly listens, only pipes in when Junmyeon asks him if he’s listening, but even then that’s only reflex. 

“With all due respect, Junmyeon,” Baekhyun starts, cutting off his boss’ words mid-sentence, “he’ll get by, he’s not a child.”

“Well, there are a lot of rooms that he can’t enter without permission. I don’t care if he’s new or old, he’ll still receive punishment for entering. Plus, if he gets punished, all of you will get punished for not taking care of him properly. He’s already been here for two weeks, he’s supposed to know by now.” Junmyeon reaches out to his packet of cigarettes, sliding a stick out to light it up himself. At Baekhyun’s stare, he gestures to the whole box and offers, “You want one?”

“No,” Baekhyun turns his offer down immediately. 

“Then why are you staring?” Junmyeon frowns.

“I have never seen you smoke before,” Baekhyun says in response.

“I don’t smoke that much, just one or two sticks per week. Have you really never seen me smoke before?” Junmyeon raises his brows, face looking smug as always but Baekhyun knows it’s not smug he’s trying to portray in his expression, but surprise. 

“Perhaps I have but didn’t pay a lot of mind to it,” Baekhyun waves the matter away. “You shouldn’t make it a habit. I don’t know why you humans like to voluntarily bring harm to your already fragile bodies.”

“You’re talking as if you’re not human yourself.” Junmyeon rolls his eyes. “Eat your vegetables.” 

Baekhyun snickers, partly because he’s not human at all and he finds Junmyeon’s words ironic down to its core, and partly because Junmyeon is scolding him like a little kid for not liking vegetables. 

“You only live once.” 

“Exactly!” Junmyeon exclaims. “So I shouldn’t worry so much and live my life.” 

“No, Junmyeon, I mean you only live once so you shouldn’t be wasting it away. This is your only chance.” 

“That’s not…” Junmyeon trails off and Baekhyun feels satisfied enough that he’s made his boss rethink the meaning behind the famous saying.

He gets up, about to leave, when he remembers something. It’s not that important but Baekhyun still thinks he should apologise for disturbing Jongin. 

“Hey, I’m sorry for interfering with others’ work. Won’t happen again as long as I can help it.” To top it off, Baekhyun smiles, the one smile that makes everyone drop everything they’re doing to look at it because Baekhyun rarely smiles. 

“Okay…” Junmyeon blinks stupidly up at Baekhyun’s figure looming above him. It doesn’t help that Baekhyun’s width when looked at from a seating position looks massive. 

“See you.” Baekhyun pathetically waves behind his back. 

Once he steps out of Junmyeon’s office, he runs into Jongin who looks like he’s about to collapse upon seeing Baekhyun. He doesn’t really like being feared, especially not when he’s supposed to so he tries his best to not scare Jongin anymore than he already is. Jongin tries to sidestep him but Baekhyun doesn’t allow it.

“If he asks you anything you don’t want to answer, just blame me. When he takes a deep breath, it means you won’t get out. Run before then.” A ghost of a smile caresses Baekhyun’s lips. “Remember, run.”

“I can hear you, Baekhyun,” Junmyeon calls out from inside the room, making Baekhyun and Jongin both whip their gazes to the door behind them. 

Baekhyun full on laughs, turning back to Jongin as his laughter intensifies. “He’s such a loser.”

Jongin breaks out into a fit of laughter himself, trying his best to keep it down so Junmyeon wouldn’t hear him laughing too. Maybe what ran through Baekhyun’s nerves at that exact point was relief. Relief that Jongin could still let loose in his presence. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Sehun walks past him in the living room, shuffling to his designated seat by the window. Baekhyun stares, leaning on the couch’s armrest. Only because how lithe and elegant Sehun could be amazes him. He’s only seen a few humans who has Sehun’s character, quiet but not, fierce but not, dumb but not. Sehun contradicts himself anyway he can, like he doesn’t want people to know who he actually is. 

What’s more intriguing is the fact that when Baekhyun first appeared in this same room as a newcomer, Sehun had handed him a towel to wipe his face. Baekhyun had been drenched in blood at that point, not his own, and he had been uncharacteristically calm for someone who looks like he’s gone from Hell and back. 

The rest of them had been too scared to approach him. Even Junmyeon who was the one that brought him back looked hesitant to talk to him. Sehun was the first one who had left the room for a minute, coming back with a soaked towel before gently handing it to Baekhyun. That prompted a set of overdue tears to burst out of Baekhyun because he hadn’t seen anyone so nice. 

Essentially, because of Sehun, the rest had seen just how Baekhyun wasn’t a ruthless monster but a traumatised man with a story of his own to tell. 

“What are you looking at?” Sehun snaps.

“You,” Baekhyun says impassively before he shoots Sehun a wink.

“Your expressions are so bland.” Sehun grimaces. 

“Says you, stone-face.” Baekhyun can’t help but smirk at Sehun’s gasp, mocking surprise. 

“Okay, kids, stop fighting.” Junmyeon walks in, announcing his presence in a bored tone. Chanyeol tails after Junmyeon, head ducked down as he tries his best not to look out of place from being so tall. “We’re here for a meeting, not for playtime.”

“Yeah, Baekhyun, get it right,” Sehun pushes the blame to Baekhyun, a smile creeping its way up his features. When Baekhyun shadows a punch to him, Sehun stops resisting the curl of his lips from taking over. Letting the joke go now, Sehun looks around for the others. “Anyway, where’s the rest?”

“Here!” Jongdae announces chirpily, shuffling into the living room and straight to Baekhyun. He drops onto the couch, showing Baekhyun his cheekiest grin. 

“You’re late.” Baekhyun scoots over so Jongdae has space. 

“I was pestering Minseok. To say it was fun would be an understatement.” Jongdae snickers.

“You’re going to make him go through another panic attack soon.” Baekhyun sighs. “Will you lay it down for a while? For your own sake. Mine, too, honestly.”

“Why you, too?” Jongdae’s petulance is starting to get to Baekhyun’s nerves.

“Because if anything happens to you, I’m responsible for it.” Baekhyun reaches out to flick Jongdae’s ears like how he always does but the younger one dodges with an overexaggerated scream. 

Jongdae gets up and runs away, and when Baekhyun thinks he couldn’t be anymore surprised by that, Jongdae opts to sit next to Chanyeol. The little brat seeks consolation from Chanyeol’s fond smile and comforting pats. Jongdae sticks his tongue out, aggravating him even further and Baekhyun contemplates on getting up to smack him in the back of his head.

Yixing and Minseok walks in then, and Baekhyun realises that everyone’s here now. He points to Jongdae and motions a slitting action near his throat. Jongdae pales.

“Alright, since everyone’s here.” Junmyeon claps his hands together, hogging all the attention to himself. “Our next job will be Chanyeol’s first job and I’ll only be putting the best on this team.” 

Baekhyun exchanges a look with Chanyeol, brows raised as if to ask if he can join in. Chanyeol purses his lips into a line to say that he’s unsure. It’s not up to him who gets to join him. 

“One thing for sure is that Baekhyun will not go.” Baekhyun shoots daggers to Junmyeon, the latter beams, and he wishes looks could kill. 

Baekhyun’s one of the best at everything; conmanship, torture, assassination, staged homicide, homicide, drug smuggling, kidnapping, arson—you name it. Junmyeon did say he’d only put the best on the team so that automatically means Baekhyun’s included. Or that’s what everyone thought. 

“Why not?” It’s Jongdae who asks. “He’s the best, isn’t he?”

“We need someone to stay as backup. This is a big mission and we can’t thoughtlessly sacrifice our best pawns first.” Somewhere in the room, Baekhyun sees Kyungsoo shift closer to Minseok when Junmyeon threw him a look. “By best, I meant the ones who suit the position.”

“What’s our task now?” Yixing begrudgingly questions. He hates missions the most out of everyone. 

“We were assigned to break into the Blue House and steal this country’s whole database. Instructions explicitly say kill anyone who gets in the way. We do this and we’ll be coming back home with an edge over the government itself.” 

“Put me on the team and you won’t even need a backup.” Baekhyun’s cocky tone can’t even be rebutted from the rest because they know he’s right. He’s spent a few lifetimes living as a paid mercenary, he knows how everything works and all the practice had led him to be magnificent at what he does. “Put me on the team.”

“I’ll make you join Chanyeol on the next mission. It’s too much of a risk to lose you.” Junmyeon sounds like he’s about to finalise everything and Baekhyun hastily interrupts him.

“It’s not about Chanyeol. I have all the time in the world for Chanyeol, I don’t need to go on this mission for him. But if I’m not going then it means Jongdae’s going.” 

“Hasn’t it been long enough since you’ve requested to personally train him? He can manage on his own now.” Weirdly enough, Minseok’s the one who cuts in the conversation. His tone is sharp, fierce, and he truly doesn’t like that either Baekhyun or Jongdae always gets things done their way. “He’s a grown man.”

“Trust me.” Baekhyun shakes his head, face slowly contorting into worry. It’s obvious enough that the only subject that could rattle Baekhyun up is Jongdae, judging by how quick Baekhyun is to react to anything concerning the other. “It’s not time yet.” 

“How do you know? Do you check if he has sudden urges to kill you? Are you his therapist for that awful personality disorder of his?” 

Jongdae’s faint whimper is the only thing that echoes in Baekhyun’s ears. 

Close to a year ago, Baekhyun had sensed Jongdae miles away. He had asked Junmyeon to drive up to the vague location where he sensed the younger one and his boss had invited a few of the guys. Minseok was one of them. 

When Baekhyun had found Jongdae by the side of an abandoned road, the latter had been hysterical. He was losing his mind and letting his element take over him. Baekhyun took away Jongdae’s sight when he had lunged a blade at Minseok and Kyungsoo, then he calmed Jongdae down. Jongdae passed out in Baekhyun’s arms, bloody and arguably an inch away from death. He sees Jongdae as his responsibility, and if anyone were to mess with Jongdae, they’d mess with Baekhyun too. 

Baekhyun straightens up in his seat, eyes pinning Minseok down the best he can to try to intimidate him. Minseok doesn’t care much, too used to Baekhyun being moody and annoyed at him to see a reason to care anymore. Everyone in the room gets slightly restless, even Chanyeol who Baekhyun notices pulling Jongdae closer to him. 

“How about you shut your mouth and watch out for your neck? I, myself, might have the sudden urge to kill you. I’ve been missing the feeling of being coated in blood lately,” Baekhyun articulates sentence by sentence in a sickly sweet tone. And to top it all off, he gives Minseok an equally sickly sweet smile. 

“Is that allowed?” Minseok turns to Junmyeon who looks mildly amused by what’s playing out right before him. 

He rolls his eyes over to Minseok and with a smirk, shrugs his shoulders. He then pushes himself off from whatever he’s leaning on and clears his throat to clear the tension in the room.

“You still can’t go, Baekhyun.” 

Something shatters in Baekhyun and he’s suddenly taking quick steps to Junmyeon, wanting to drag the other out to discuss this in private. He shoots Junmyeon a desperate look right before he moves to grab Junmyeon by the hand. When Jongdae whines about wanting to go on a mission without Baekhyun for once, the latter pivots on his heels. 

“What?” Baekhyun snaps. “You know damn well you can’t go, infant.” 

“You’re such an old man, not letting me go have fun without your supervision.” Jongdae’s sad pout is permanent now the longer Baekhyun stares him down. The latter has time to show distaste to the expression Jongdae harbours upon his face. “Please?”

“Wow, now you’re being polite.” Sarcasm wasn’t something Jongdae expected at all so he ended up bursting out a giggle. Baekhyun’s taken aback by that. To think that he’d be laughing so freely when he was just insulted minutes ago by Minseok. 

“I can take care of him.” Peering eyes dart to the one man holding Jongdae next to him like he’s a child. Chanyeol almost cowers under the pressure of everyone’s gaze but Baekhyun’s hopeful ones alone stops him from doing so. “I’ll take care of him.” 

“I trust that you can, and that you will.” Baekhyun nods resolutely before squinting his eyes down at Jongdae. “But will that little baby let you?” 

“I will! I trust Chanyeol too!” Jongdae twists himself out of Chanyeol’s hold, springing up to his feet to stand before Baekhyun. “Please, Boxian, please!” 

“I don’t like it when you beg. It usually means you’ll fuck something up.” Baekhyun narrows his eyes into slits in suspicion, refusing to give in to Jongdae’s whiny voice.

Jongdae silences himself altogether, standing straight as he collects himself to remain in a calm composure. He then smiles, the corners of his lips curling up and reminding Baekhyun of a pet cat he had once. 

“If you behave.” Baekhyun smirks.

Jongdae gapes. “Honestly, why do I let you treat me like a kid?”

“Compared to me, you’re still learning how to crawl.” 

Chanyeol’s snort at that statement satisfies Baekhyun, a small smile sneaks in the corner of his lips too. 


	2. Chapter 2

The door creaks open, and in the dim lighting, Baekhyun can see relent overshadowing most of Jongdae’s expression. Baekhyun’s by the window seat now, looking out at the world and overthinking a few matters that he doesn’t have the power to change. He moves to the bed when Jongdae steps closer, shuffling in under the covers when Jongdae does the same. 

Jongdae scoots closer till he feels the comforting warmth Baekhyun radiates press on his skin. Then he closes his eyes and let out a sharp huff as a sigh. He tries to go to sleep but he can’t.

“I still can’t sleep,” Jongdae says.

Without a word, Baekhyun turns over and switches the nightlight off. Turning back to Jongdae, he makes sure to pull the other closer to him to snuggle into him. Jongdae whines when Baekhyun’s sharp chin digs into his shoulder but quietens down anyway when Baekhyun doesn’t respond.

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, you know?” With only the moonlight to help Jongdae see, he tries his best to make out the expression on Baekhyun’s face. “He doesn’t know any better.”

“Doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.” 

“Of course.” 

It goes silent, Jongdae not knowing what to respond and Baekhyun not knowing what to do. Jongdae’s possibly thinking back to hours ago when Minseok had insulted him too, and Baekhyun can’t let the younger one trap himself in such unpleasant thoughts. An idea crosses Baekhyun’s mind, and he grins before turning over onto his back. Jongdae has always loved it when he shares the stories of his past.

“There was this one time I lived as a King.” Baekhyun knows Jongdae’s listening so he carries on either way. “I had servants, I had followers, I had everything. But then, someone in the palace thought that I wasn’t fit for King. He had to constantly fight against my words. At one point, the others in the palace told me to just get rid of the guy but I didn’t. I don’t know why. One night, I woke up to someone screaming at me, telling me the whole palace was on fire. It was him, the one that didn’t like me. I asked him why he didn’t just leave me and act like it was too late to come get me, and he said it was because he didn’t hate me. He didn’t like me as King, but he liked me as a person, as myself. That’s when I realised that maybe I should stop trying so hard to prove to him I’m something and just let him see me as someone.” 

Comes Jongdae’s small voice, “What did you do next?”

“I passed the title of King to my successor and I left the country. I wanted to restart, you see, so I looked for Chanyeol.”

Jongdae’s quizzical eyes prompts a smile of mirth from Baekhyun. He really is like a baby, so young and still learning how to control his element. Baekhyun sees himself in Jongdae, struggling to live even though they can’t reach death, still struggling to get a grip of his own identity. Maybe Chanyeol saw himself in Jongdae too. Maybe that’s why he’s grown so close to Jongdae in the short period of time that he’s been here. 

“We have this agreement where we die together. Always. If I couldn’t go find him, I’ll die first and he’ll do the same shortly after. If he dies first, I’ll follow him soon enough.” Baekhyun picks a fallen eyelash off from Jongdae’s cheek, only to be met with the younger one beaming up at him. “What?”

“That’s so cool!” Jongdae’s voice booms in the whole room, maybe the whole floor could hear him too. 

True enough, someone in the room next to Baekhyun’s, which is Sehun’s room, pounds the walls impatiently. Baekhyun shifts up a little to reach the wall and punches it. That’ll make Sehun shut up.

“Can I be a part of this agreement?” Jongdae asks, hopeful eyes looking up at Baekhyun’s sleepy ones.

“Ask Chanyeol tomorrow. Let’s go to sleep.” Baekhyun shifts again on the bed, facing Jongdae now.

“Okay!” Jongdae chirps. “Goodnight, love you.”

“Hmm,” Baekhyun can’t help but to feel elated at Jongdae’s little statement, “love you, too. Goodnight.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“What do you mean you don’t know what you were? It was just one lifetime ago.” Jongdae’s voice grows louder by the second and Baekhyun chooses to ignore him in favour of reading today’s news.

The click of heavy boots invades the living room, and the next thing he knows is Chanyeol plopping down on the couch by his outstretched feet. Jongdae then tumbles over Chanyeol’s long feet, crashing his whole body down on the both of them. Baekhyun groans, his newspaper now crumpled under the weight of Jongdae’s upper body. Poor Chanyeol, he probably got kicked in the chin or something. 

“I don’t think three large men are supposed to be positioned like this on one small couch.” Baekhyun can’t quite figure out whether that was Sehun’s voice or Jongin’s voice.

“Well, I don’t think you’re supposed to just stand there and do nothing,” Baekhyun calls out in a sing-songy tone. “Please help us. Or me, to be specific.” 

Baekhyun yelps at Jongdae’s little smack in response. He tries his best to glare at Jongdae but the latter has his head turned to the figure looming above them. It’s Sehun who pulls Jongdae up and Jongin who helps Baekhyun sit up into a position that’s less… bone-breaking. 

“What were you three even doing?” Sehun just had to ask.

“I was running after Chanyeol because he won’t tell me what he was in his past life,” Jongdae grumbles out.

“I told you, I don’t know what I was. I walked around and explored Earth, that’s it.” Chanyeol shrugs, wanting to let the matter go because he suddenly realises Sehun and Jongin’s presence in the room.

“It can happen, you know, Zhongda? Sometimes, we like to take a break away from civilisation and spend our lives in the wilderness.” Baekhyun sighs. “We don’t have to always live as someone.” 

“What are you even talking about?” Jongin chirps in. Baekhyun almost forgot he was there. “What past life?”

Jongdae falls silent, not knowing how to respond to Jongin, and Baekhyun stays mute because he suddenly can’t think of the right thing to say. He’s grown so used to the people in the house ignoring the questionable things he says and does that he’s forgotten how to escape from the peering questions. Luckily, Chanyeol laughs it off and explains that they were talking about a game. Baekhyun breathes a little easier knowing Jongin’s not the brightest kid around.

“Oh, talking about games,” Sehun starts, “we were gonna go to the town up ahead and get our game console fixed. Wanna come?” 

Jongdae’s a sucker for adventures and Baekhyun knows that the younger would start begging to let him go. To save Jongdae’s time and energy, Baekhyun agrees to come along. Chanyeol, surprisingly, wants to come too, and Baekhyun thinks it’s because literally everyone in the house who he’s more comfortable with is going. 

“Let me change into a nicer outfit first.” Jongdae jumps to his feet. “Don’t leave without me!” 

Jongin and Chanyeol runs up to their rooms to do the same, finding their outfits lacking in something. Sehun then crosses the room to his favourite window seat and plops himself down on the cushions. 

“Will you ever tell me what you are?” Sehun asks. 

Baekhyun’s had a hunch a long time ago about Sehun knowing he’s not human. This doesn’t surprise him. Sehun would always side-eye him when he says something weird like referring to everyone in the house as “you humans” or simply having weird conversations with Jongdae about his past lives. The fact that Jongdae always calls him an old man is weird too. 

“I’m human,” Baekhyun says nevertheless. It’s fine if people know, but he doesn’t want to be the one telling them. 

“Past lives and remembering all of it… Are you immortal?” Sehun tries once more. 

“I’m human, like you,” Baekhyun responds, smiling at the exasperated look Sehun shot him. “At least, that’s what I want to be.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


They stand side by side, watching Sehun tease Jongdae about something and listening to Jongin laughing along. Once their whole group steps out of a warm shop, Sehun and Jongin shudder at the cold that devours them. Baekhyun snorts at that, glancing at Jongdae who decided to leave the house with just a hoodie. Chanyeol’s even worse, wearing only a thin shirt like last time. Baekhyun on the other hand, decided to at least put on a coat over his shirt this time around.

“How are you guys not cold?” Jongin pins his stare on Chanyeol, specifically on the lack of clothing that he should have on. “I don’t get it.”

Sehun slings an arm around Jongin’s neck. He peers over his shoulders at Baekhyun’s cold stare before turning back to Jongin with a suspicious smile. 

“You shouldn’t ask the questions you don’t want an answer to. Haven’t you noticed something about Baekhyun and Jongdae at least? These guys are psychos.” Jongin dumbly blinks up at the mirth twinkling in Sehun’s eyes. Sehun winks.

On his other side, Jongin snaps his head to face Jongdae who had sidled up against him. “Or have you forgotten the day I came back home wanting to see the look of pain on your pretty little face? When I said I wanted to wear your skin as a coat?” 

“You said that?” Jongin stiffens, his voice thinning out into barely a whisper. “When?”

“Stop scaring him, kids,” Baekhyun calls out, having enough of seeing Jongin tremble. “Jongdae, stop lying. I would have killed you right then if you said something that horrible to little Jongin.”

He gently shoves Sehun and Jongdae away, pulling Jongin close to him. Jongin sighs in relief, loosening up once again when he notices Chanyeol showing him a smile. Baekhyun then links his arm around Jongin’s.

“But never forget the first time I came to the house soaked in sweet, sweet blood.” Baekhyun smirks.

Everyone except for Jongin burst out laughing together, gaining a few disdainful stares from the locals because of the volume. Jongdae seems to be having the most fun out of it. He rarely sees Baekhyun joking with anyone else except him, so he loves witnessing it.

“Please don’t,” Jongin whines, “I already have the worst nightmares at the start of your stay because of that.”

“Okay, okay,” Baekhyun relents, the last of a chuckle fading out with a breath. “But I’m like the last person you should fear.”

“I try my best,” Jongin mumbles, “but sometimes you don’t help at all when all you do is glare and snap at Jongdae.”

Mentioned man skids on his heels and trots back to walk at the same pace as Jongin and Baekhyun. He conjures up the best, most believable scandalised expression and nods. Baekhyun flicks a finger on Jongdae’s frown, making him cry out in pain. It’s all an a-little-over-the-top act, though, and Baekhyun knows because Jongdae then skips to a stall that caught his eyes without missing a beat. 

“Baekhyun, can I play this game?” Jongdae’s voice sounds a little distanced, him having run off quite far from the group. 

“What game?” Baekhyun yawps back. 

He starts up a little jog to get to Jongdae before the other’s patience runs out and decides to play the game without Baekhyun’s consent. Jongdae’s already pouting, pointing at the huge game booth set up by the side of the road. Almost immediately, at the tip of his tongue, the answer no hangs on for dear life. But knowing just how many times he’s restricted Jongdae from doing a lot of things these days, Baekhyun’s starting to pity the younger one.

When Baekhyun was as young as Jongdae, he had the freedom to make his own mistakes and learn from them himself. If someone had been there and carped about everything he did, he’d go mad. So he can understand Jongdae just a little when he claims to hate him.

Still. This booth shouldn’t even be here in such a sophisticated town. Baekhyun’s a little annoyed that they managed to visit town when this game booth is still up and running. Jongdae loves games, but when he loses, he becomes literally murderous. 

Sighing, Baekhyun nods. A smile curls up Jongdae’s lips.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“I hate it when you just take whatever you want without permission!” Jongdae screams, face tense and veins popping as rage fills his senses up. “You’re not my brother, Baekhyun! You’re not my father, too. You’re not my family, you’re nothing to me!” 

No one talks, no one blinks. No one even breathes. They slowly slide their stares from a seething Jongdae to a crestfallen Baekhyun. It’s shocking how Baekhyun doesn’t even bother to respond. He only raises his head just a little to be able to meet Jongdae’s eyes, and the younger’s already stomped into the house and up to his room. 

Anyone can tell Baekhyun treats Jongdae like family. Baekhyun’s overly strict at times, but no one says anything about it because they know Jongdae’s mental state. The slightest thing can trigger him and somehow, Baekhyun’s the only one that can control him. No one else can lay a hand on Jongdae because it’ll either mean Jongdae has their head or Baekhyun has their necks. That doesn’t mean Jongdae understands that. 

In contrast to Jongdae’s hard, angry steps, Baekhyun’s footsteps are quiet, light and sad. He turns away from Jongin’s wide, surprised eyes, Sehun’s expressionless blinks and Chanyeol’s pensive smile of consolation. He doesn’t want all that right now. 

Sehun reaches for his shoulder, but Baekhyun lightly shrugs it off, quickening his pace to get out of there as soon as possible. He takes the route leading to the garden at the back and walks a little further, to the small manmade lake Junmyeon had ordered to be installed last summer—courtesy to Sehun and Kyungsoo scheming to leave the house if he didn’t. 

In the middle of winter, with snow all around him, Baekhyun peels his coat and shirt off. He stands by the edge of the water, staring into the distance. He traces the outlines of mountains far ahead from where he stands. And he stutters on a breath. He sobs. His body shakes, trembles even when he takes another breath in. 

Like always, Baekhyun had only taken Jongdae’s sense of sight away for a minute. Jongdae had acted hysterically to losing a game. It’s to be expected. 

“You know he doesn’t mean it.” Baekhyun doesn’t even have to turn to know it’s Chanyeol. 

Of course. Who else could it be that could handle Baekhyun in such a state if not for his lifelong friend? His only lifelong friend. 

Baekhyun sobs in response to Chanyeol’s words. 

“If he knew better, he wouldn’t have said that.” Chanyeol walks up to Baekhyun, taking a seat next to him. 

“Doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt,” Baekhyun stutters out. The cold is starting to get to him. 

“If you dive in now, even with what you are, you’ll die,” Chanyeol’s voice supplies, “It’s too cold for you.” 

“I know.” Wiping his incessant tears with the back of his hand, Baekhyun sniffles once and tries to swallow his constricting throat back to normal. “God, I know.”

Chanyeol huffs in mirth. “God? Do you think he exists?”

“He does. Just not for us.” 

Unexpected would be the right word to describe Baekhyun’s cynical answer. He’s always been the one who believes. He believes everything would be fine, he believes life has a meaning. He believes. Chanyeol, on the other hand, has had trouble finding a reason to live again and again, and again. It’s okay the first few times, but when you’ve lived over a hundred lives, you tend to run out of ideas. 

Baekhyun slowly brings himself down to a sitting position, staring over the edge of water with Chanyeol right next to him. The warmth Chanyeol radiates is like Heaven to Baekhyun. For the first time in such a long time, he’s actually cold. 

He’s so cold he might die. Will he? Should he? Should he be a coward and run? 

Baekhyun doesn’t notice just how long he stayed stationary in his spot until he startles at the warm touch enveloping his dainty hands. And it’s moist? Baekhyun’s eyes snap open only to come face to face with a drenched Chanyeol, just inches apart. He’s so close Baekhyun could see the miniature droplets running down his skin. He’s so close Chanyeol could make out the different tones of red in Baekhyun’s bloodshot eyes. He cries too much. 

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun whispers. 

“I warmed the water up,” Chanyeol whispers back just as softly, just as timidly.

Chanyeol swims backwards, deeper into the lake and he clutches his long fingers around Baekhyun’s wrists as well. He tugs him into the water. Baekhyun lets out a small sound in between a yap and squawk, making Chanyeol laugh. Catching Baekhyun into his arms, Chanyeol laughs even harder at the way Baekhyun refuses to let go of him.

“It’s too deep!” Now he’s really squawking. 

“Calm down, just hold onto me.” 

The laughter rings in the silence, and Baekhyun regrets not paying close attention to it when he could. He’s waited long enough to hear him laugh again, three lifetimes and three decades to be mildly exact, so he should take in what he can get now.

The tranquility in the place comes and fits right back into place when Baekhyun finally steadies himself. He props himself up with both hands holding onto Chanyeol’s shoulder. With their close proximity does Baekhyun realise the situation they’re in.

They’re both holding onto each other like their lives depended on it. Baekhyun can understand why he has to have a tight grip on Chanyeol but why does Chanyeol hold onto Baekhyun like that? Like he’d evaporate into dust if he doesn’t. They’re both shirtless too, skin warming skin. The water’s lukewarm all thanks to Chanyeol’s body heat and Baekhyun at last feels relaxation taking over his body. 

He can let go now, he’s sure he’s tall enough to stand on the ground. The initial panic has diffused into something lightweight on his shoulders, like stress but the type that’s solvable and can be put to the side. But somewhere in the back of his mind, Baekhyun doesn’t want to let go. Not this time. 

So he comes even closer, the material of his jeans squeezing his flesh tight as he shifts underwater. Baekhyun closes the gap between them the same way he blinks, involuntarily and, in a sense, wanting to fulfill a purpose. Then he leans in, and he rests his forehead on Chanyeol’s toned shoulders. They fit. 

“I missed you.” 

“I missed you, too.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It feels like Hell in here. It’s hard to breathe, hard to see, hard to comprehend anything that he hears around him. Heat engulfs him whole, and it’s unbearable. It hurts. It’s painful enough for him to shoot up in bed, beads of sweat trickling down the sides of his face. 

Baekhyun swipes the perspiration off of him, panting as he sits in silence to make out what just happened to him. It’s a dream, that much he can tell, but he doesn’t know why he had it. He hasn’t had it for quite some time now. Not since he met Jongdae.

The soft rumbling of a car’s engine pierces through the walls and when it finally dawns on Baekhyun just what it meant, he hops out of bed and trudged down the stairs. He’s still a little groggy from just waking up. 

“Oh, there you are.” Junmyeon beams once he spots Baekhyun walking out of the house in pajamas, eyes half closed and expression sour. 

Jongdae, Chanyeol and Minseok are gathered around Junmyeon by the car. The rest of the occupants of the house stand by the side. Right, they have a job to do. The prospect of them not succeeding in the job and fucking up their mission worries Baekhyun because they could get hurt really badly. And what if they got caught? He’d have to bust them out. 

Baekhyun doesn’t even bother putting on shoes. He walks on the cold snow, shivering just slightly before he weaves his way around Junmyeon to Chanyeol who’s leaning against the car door. Baekhyun slots himself right up against Chanyeol, wrapping his arms tight around the taller’s waist. Almost immediately, Chanyeol responds by hugging him back. 

“Take care of Jongdae and yourself for me,” Baekhyun squeaks out. 

“I will.” The deep rumble of Chanyeol’s voice is felt rather than heard due to Baekhyun pressing the side of his face against Chanyeol’s chest. 

Baekhyun feels small in Chanyeol’s arms, and although that usually isn’t quite a pleasant feeling to Baekhyun, he likes it now. He knows he’s safe around Chanyeol, and he also knows he can only have the pleasure of feeling like this around Chanyeol. 

When Chanyeol brings a hand down to softly caress his hair, Baekhyun melts against his touch. He lets out a soft hum, adjusting his hold around Chanyeol to tighten it. If he could purr like a cat, he would be doing just that. 

“If anything happens, save Jongdae first,” Baekhyun says, forgetting that Jongdae’s right there next to him.

“I’m not a kid…” Jongdae’s mumble causes Baekhyun to blink his eyes open. 

Baekhyun lets go of Chanyeol, staring up at Jongdae’s almost indifferent eyes with pride and love. It’s all he really shows to Jongdae most of the time actually. Behind the childish glint in Jongdae’s brown orbs, Baekhyun can recognise guilt buried somewhere deep. He then smiles.

Jongdae leaps right onto Baekhyun, hugging him for dear life. Maybe he even sobbed, Baekhyun can’t really tell with the way Jongdae rambles on about how much he actually loves Baekhyun as a friend, as family. 

“And I’m really sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t say sorry earlier. It’s been almost a week and I’m sorry I ignored you.” Jongdae might as well wail with how loud he’s being.

“It’s okay.” Baekhyun smiles, hugging Jongdae back.

When the three of them leave together, the taillights of the car flashing within a canvas of white snow and fading into the scenery, Baekhyun watches. He watches the way they’re not there anymore. He should be feeling empty that they left but somehow he feels full. He feels warm. So warm that he doesn’t even feel the freezing temperature he’s submerged in. 

Junmyeon then invites him back into the house, eyes twinkling under the morning sunlight to indicate that he wants to ask about Chanyeol. He wants to ask about Baekhyun’s relationship with Chanyeol.

Instead, Junmyeon asks, “How are you not already dead from the temperature?”

Baekhyun feels like he can take on the world. Is this how it feels like to be loved? 

Does Chanyeol love him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thats chapter 2 for you :)  
ive written chapter 3 already but i wont be posting it soon enough bcos i wanna at least get chapter 4 finished and edited first.  
i hope u liked this chapter. pls do comment, my dudes. also!! guess who said "i miss u" first, yeol or baek?

**Author's Note:**

> got this idea from Givexo_Always' video edit called Black Everything and i absolutely love it i swear to god. go check her vid out its on youtube. LIKE IT. anyway i seriously was mindblown by the idea because theres so much going on at once like immortals + demons + assassins + MAMA!au????? love it. so i wrote this even tho i already have one sekai fic ongoing on AFF but whatever am i right? 
> 
> comment my dudes and tell me what you think about the first chapter :)


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